DreamWorks, Netflix partner on new interactive content

Two years in the making, a special choose-your-own-adventure Captain Underpants episode will premiere on February 11.

DreamWorks Animation Television has created a new interactive special for its Netflix original series Captain Underpants set to drop on the SVOD on February 11. The choose-your-own-adventure special, “Epic Choice-O-Rama,” runs the length of three regular episodes, or 60 minutes in total.

Based on the novels by Dav Pilkey, the episode follows a revenge plot and a fight for a treehouse. Audiences are prompted to make choices at key plot points to drive the story to its conclusion.

The special is part of the usual DreamWorks pipeline, according to a DreamWorks spokesperson, but the Netflix product team played a hands-on role in crafting the choice prompts and story mapping so it would all work with the pre-existing tech. The episode could last 35 minutes depending on the viewer’s choices. It been in the works with Netflix for about two years and will live as a standalone special on the service. Peter Hastings (Animaniacs; Pinky and the Brain) is the executive producer.

This is not Netflix and DreamWorks’ first time teaming up on interactive content. In 2017, the two worked together on a special Puss in Book episode, “Trapped in an Epic Tale.” Netflix also picked up an interactive episode of Buddy Thunderstruck, followed by a five-episode interactive Minecraft series a year later, and a new interactive series called Battle Kitty based on animator Matt Layzell’s Instagram posts, which has yet to premiere.